Fighting the Works of the Devil

We are just very blessed this morning to have a guest, speaker, Luis Salinas and his wife, Aida, and their family, Gabby, Leslie, and David. And, Luis and I are the directors of New Generation Ministries. This is the ministry that we've been involved with and being able to go down and visit the boys, 23 boys that they're able to minister to and try to raise them up to be a godly men for the Lord. If you remember correct, back in December, our gift for Jesus offering went to New Generation Ministries, and, we've just really enjoyed getting to know them.

And their ministry and very excited about what the Lord is doing just two hours south of us in Tijuana. And one of my first impressions of just Luis and Aida is when we went to visit them, 23 boys plus David and their own kids, and, Luis just has this really awesome combination of, of love and tenderness and machisimo. And, and it's like you just see him hugging on the boys and kissing the boys and ministering to them, and then when it's time to get in the van, he just whistles.

I don't even know how he, I can't whistle like that.

He just whistles and and the van is loaded and, and I'm like looking around like trying to figure out how we get our family into the van. He's got like everybody in. So, just really a blessing and anyway, they're gonna, they're gonna start off by blessing us with some music and then a little, little presentation and then Luis is gonna preach. But let's just, let's just welcome the Salinas family.

We're very glad to be here with you guys this morning. It's a really, real honor to, meet the rest of the congregation. We've been blessed on, having some people coming over, and being out of place, quite a few times, and, now it's a real pleasure to be with you. and meet the rest of you.

We're gonna have a song in Spanish. and pretty much, it's a song that, it's a prayer to the Lord in how we want to be a perfume at Jesus' feet. If Spanish, you may understand most of the words. believe Are Ma.

Yeah Oh I my I is so I but but are those My kid was really excited to seeing the pictures. Yes, I don't know how many times and he's still slapping us for seeing the pictures. Pretty much that that's what we do we work with boys, from, very poverty stricken communities seen affected places from from Tijuana. we started our ministry about 12 years ago, over 12 years ago.

After realizing the great need on ministering to these kids, we used to be involved in kids' clubs in, different communities in Tijuana, the red light district area, Tijuana City dump, and, and some other. Really poor areas from, from the city and spending 2 hours a week wasn't enough. We realized that we needed to come up with a better plan. We would have skits and songs and everything appropriate for children.

But when he was, When it was our time to leave, we just let them going back to what they knew as home, which it was pretty much. Everything else but home. And And we decided to pray about it. We prayed about it.

We talked to some people and God started opening doors and it was very, very miraculously how it, how it, how it happened. we got the property donated for a ministry. God started opening, some doors with churches and individuals and started supporting us financially and, through their prayers, and that's how pretty much we started. We started with 3 children.

And then we added up another 3 and now we've become to to be 23. We don't, we don't want to go beyond 25, and that's one of one of the things that distinguishes from other orphanages or or home for children. We want to create a family environment. I know 23, it's a lot, right, and it doesn't feel like family at times and it feels more like a crazy place than a family.

but, it's still 2023 with some help that we have from previous children that were, child when they were, when they were little and now they, they're part of our staff. We can manage, we can manage things and, and still provide that sense of a big, big family., we care for what's happening in their hearts, and if we go beyond that number, we just lose track. It's still with up to 23, we know each individual, we know them by name and, and they, we know their needs. And by knowing their needs were able to minister to their needs according to what they Or lacking, otherwise it would just be providing food and clothing and shelter and education as you as you probably notice it we pay a big emphasis on on education academics is a is a it's a it's a one of our strong emphasis and because that's because we believe that a.

A good educated person, may have more opportunities for life. But that that's not everything. Education is not everything. Jesus Christ is everything.

And unless we give them Jesus Christ, we can give them a PhD. And we still, we're not doing anything for this person, but by giving them Jesus Christ, we're breaking cycles that they were exposed to back with their families. They some, some of these kids had a family, which it was pretty much. In most, in most cases, a single mother trying to raise 2 or 3 other children, not being able to to provide enough for the rest of the family.

or in need to go to work and leaving the kids at home with no supervision. This puts the kids at risk, and we want to work with children at risk. We only want to work with authentic real needs. In other words, we, we have very clear and very focused on the people that we that we target.

We are not a daycare. We're not a juvenile hall., but we are a Christian home that we want to bless the people in need, children at risk. And that's pretty much, what we do, through our ministry. It's a It's a huge blessing to see the change that God brings to their lives.

I can see kids just coming recently coming into our ministry, and after 6 months, a year after being exposed to God's work, you can see the change of the cross in their lives, and that's very rewarding. Yes, it is very tiring. It is very exhausting. It is very demanding at times.

But it's at the same time very rewarding to see what God is doing in their lives and thank you for partnering with us. Thank you for, thank you for your support. Thank you for praying for us. Thank you for, financially, contributing with their ministry and it's a, it's a really, really huge blessing.

I want to share a little bit just briefly from from from From God's word. Something that's been on my heart. And I would like you to come with me to 1 John 3:8, please. I'm just going to read the last part of on verse 8.

Well, let's, let's read the whole verse. The one who practices sin is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. That's why I like John. Yeah.

John is very simple. And it's Totally opposite to Paul. You read Romans and sometimes you just scratch your head and like, what is he trying to say, right? But with John, it's very simple.

you don't, you don't have to take these exegetical classes, Greek classes to understand John. it's right there. The one who practices sin is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. Very simple, very clear, right?

It's not something like, let me see, what does it, what does it mean? It's very simple, but the last part is what, what I really wanna share about the Son of God. Appear for this purpose. That he might destroy the works.

Of the devil. That's Jesus' purpose to come to this earth, to destroy the works of the devil, and as we saw in the first part of the, the verse, Satan has sinned since the beginning. That's his purpose. That's his plan.

John 10:10 says that the thief doesn't only come to steal, kill, And destroy. That's that's Satan's agenda. He has no mercy. And he will fulfill his agenda or he will try to fulfill his agenda.

That's what he has in mind, and he will go for it. But first John 3:8 says, That the reason for the Son of Man to appear is to destroy Satan's works. Amen to that. Amen.

There is hope and there is freedom. Things don't have to be the same. Luke Luke 19 Verse 10 says something similar to it. For the Son of Man has come to seek.

And to save That which was lost. When we, when we see the, when we see the gospel, when we read the whole, the whole Bible. We know That humankind wasn't the only thing that was lost in Genesis 3. But the whole creation, the whole system.

When There was no disease. Now we see disease where there was no death. Now we see death. Where there was no hunger, now we see hunger.

And even though we divide history, taking Jesus' birth as a reference for saying before and after after Christ, Real, really history should be divided after Genesis 3. Before the fall and after the fall, because without taking Genesis 3 as a reference, we wouldn't have Jesus' birth, right? If men hadn't fallen, we would never have had a need for a redeemer. So Jesus, Jesus Genesis 3 makes a reference, and we see what happened after man fell.

And and and gave his authority to the enemy. But the most important thing on Genesis 3 is that God promised redemption. He could have said, well, you messed it up. You people, I created it and I put you in a perfect place.

In Eden, and you just disobeyed me. I just wanted to, I just wanted you to stop from eating this fruit from this tree. But it was the first thing that you did. Well, maybe it's not the first thing that they did, but they did.

And, and Jesus, and, and God could have said, well, I'm just going to destroy humanity, and I'm going to start everything out from scratch. But he had promised redemption. He promised that the seed of woman will destroy Satan's work. And eventually we see how God prepared the people of Israel to be portrayers of God's glory and to and to manifest His glory to the nations.

It wasn't for Israel to only keep that glory for themselves, but it was for them to share God's God's glory to the nations. And when they Denied sharing that glory to the nations when they kept the glory for themselves, God worked things out and made them share the glory to the nations, even through deportation, even taking them as slaves, like in the, in the case of Daniel, being in Babylon and being lied to to, to different pagan kings, correct? But that was, that, that, that, that was, that was the gospel.

There is a redemption in, in, in Jesus Christ.

Matthew 24:14 says, it refers to the gospel as the gospel of the kingdom. The message is a message of kingdom. This message of the kingdom. Talks about a king.

And where there is a king, what he says is what's being done. The second, the next verse in Luke 19, in verse 11. Jesus refers to a parable, and it tells us a little bit about this kingdom. And while they were listening to these things, he went on to tell a parable because he was near Jerusalem.

And they supposed that the kingdom of God was to, was going to appear immediately. They were, they were looking for God's kingdom. They're like, oh, we're getting close to Jerusalem. We're getting close.

Well, the prophecy is about to be fulfilled. We're getting close. God's kingdom may appear. Immediately He said, therefore, A certain nobleman went to a distant country to receive a kingdom for himself and then returned.

And he called 10 of his slaves and gave them 10 minas and said to them, Do business with this. Until I come back. Jesus is giving his disciples this parable that refers to A king about to receive a kingdom. And he was, he was going, he was going to leave.

And come back after receiving the kingdom. But meanwhile, This nobleman put his workers. With different gifts. To work and tell them do business.

Until I come back. King James Version says, occupy in this. Occupying this. If Jesus is referring to himself about receiving a kingdom, And the slaves Refers to ourselves.

We should be engaged in doing God's in in doing God's business. We should be engaged in extending His kingdom on this earth. We should be engaged in as 1 John 3:8 says, destroying the works of the devil. and extending his kingdom on this earth.

When in Luke 11, Jesus' disciples approached Jesus asking, asking him to teach them to pray. Looking for a formula just like John the Baptist's disciples who had a formula or the Pharisees had a formula or the Sadducees had a formula to pray. Jesus doesn't come up with the, with the formula, but he comes with what we know as the Lord's Prayer. And in Matthew 6, It's a, it's a, it's a reference of Luke 11.

Jesus, Matthew tells us that Jesus taught his disciples to pray this way. Let me read it because I don't know it in English. I don't know it by heart in English. This is Matthew 6.

Verse 9. Pray then in this way, our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. It's quite interesting that Jesus' way of teaching his disciples to pray, right?

He is teaching his disciples to pray for God's kingdom to come to this earth. And for his will to be done on this earth. It's the same way we should be praying. And we should be engaging in this world.

How can I extend God's kingdom on this earth? How can I establish God's kingdom on this earth? What am I doing with my gift? In the destruction of Satan's works.

Am I engaged? Am I involved in destroying Satan's work? That's what the church should be doing nowadays, yes. Yes, there will be a day when we're going to be with Jesus in heaven, and he's going to come back.

Believe it. Yes, he promised he was going to, he was coming back, and he's coming back. We don't know the date. The Mayans said it was when 121212, that's what the Mayans said or something like that, right?

It was a big popular news, right, and they were having a big scandal about the end of the world. We don't know when the end of the world is. But Matthew 24 says that in order for the end to take place, the, the gospel of the kingdom needs to be preached, and by preaching the gospel, if we look at Jesus' life, he not only preached the gospel to the people, but he acted out the gospel, providing for the needy, feeding the hunger, healing the sick, bringing God's kingdom among the people.

That's what the church should be doing also nowadays.

We should be involved in extending God's, God's kingdom and, and meeting needs wherever they are, Riverside, Tijuana, whatever. One day we will be with Him in heaven, and we will rejoice and we're going to sing and we're going to have a great time. And everything is going to be fine and nice, and the Bible says that we're going to be on golden streets and crystal sea. We're going to see a crystal sea and mansions and It's, it's a nice, it's a nice place.

But in heaven, being with him through no disease. Being with him There's no hungry people. Being with him, there's no corruption. There's no pain.

There are no struggles. There would be no need for sharing the gospel in heaven or being with with the Lord. We are here rehearsing. By, by, by coming together, we're here rehearsing what, what we're going to experience in heaven.

Every time we meet, we, we have fellowship and we, we, and we have worship time and we have communion and that helps and feeds our spirit. Just It's, giving us an idea of what it's gonna be having fellowship with when when we get to to be with him. But then we, we must go out to our communities and be light and be the salt and reflect God's glory to our neighbors, to our classmates, to our coworkers, and whatever we are, and extending His kingdom. In other words, we should be engaged.

In God's businesses. And extending his kingdom on this earth. Poverty it's taking, it's, it's causing struggles, not only in Mexico and in the United States, all around the, all around the world. The statistics says that 1 out of 5 children in the United States live in extreme poverty.

1 out of 5. In 200. 7, there were 13.3 million children living in extreme poverty. Research also shows The poverty doesn't only affect What you eat or you or or your, the conditions on, on, on where you live, but it affects your, mental development.

It, it affects your cognitive development, it affects your social and emotional development and Longitudinal studies have shown that people exposed to poverty. End up children being exposed to poverty, end up being poor as adults, and many times they get involved in criminal and violence activities. That's one aspect that the church needs to be attacking. That's one aspect that the church needs to be.

addressing We need to establish God's kingdom on, on this earth. And, and, and, and when we see things like that, we should be involved in finding ways in really praying, God, how can I use my life? How can I use your mind? How can I use my talent?

In your in the establishment of your kingdom, what can I do? To eradicate This Satan's works in my community. A lot of these, a lot of these children that we're ministering right now, they used to live in this cycle. Where They, they would, they would grow in a single parent home, usually headed by a, by a single mother, not being able to provide for them and it's very simple and easy to identify the problems.

Specifically through voice. Boys are noisier, pushier, more aggressive, they yell louder. And girls are quieter, mellower. But it keeps everything inside, right?

They keep everything inside, and I've seen the effects. Once it's too much, which is about 1516, boom, they explode, and they explode, they explode really, really bad. But boys, boys are rowdier and noisier. I don't want to do that.

They get out of home, right? They get out of the house. Where are they going? They're, they're, they're hanging out with the wrong people, learning the wrong stuff, right?

You want to become a man? Yeah, mess around with girls, man. That, that will, that will be, that, that will be a good way of showing your manhood. So they get involved with girls, young girls, 1516.

That they exploded. It was too much for them in their hearts. They get pregnant. He's not a man.

She's not a woman, right? And he will run away and the same cycle will repeat. This girl trying to raise a boy. Without having the foundations and the support to raise a family.

It doesn't mean that that she, she doesn't doesn't want to raise the, the, the a family. It's just that she does, she's not equipped. She doesn't have what it takes to raise a family. And the same cycle will continue on and on and on and on.

We want to break that cycles. By bringing the gospel to men and teaching them to be godly men. If we would only focus on all the basic needs and covering all the basic needs for for for for these children. We would only have good sinners at the end.

Because the gospel is the only thing that transforms hearts. The cross is the only thing that brings hope and that it really set the captives free. And that's what, that's what our ministry is all about. We want to Give them the cross.

We want to, we want to have our kids experiencing what the gospel is. and equipping them With all The counsel of God. So they can make the right decisions. So they can, so, so, so, so they will transform their communities, so they will transform their society, so they will bring up a godly, a godly family.

And if we go back to Genesis, Genesis 12, that was, that was what God had in mind. When he blesses, Abraham and he called him out of, his parents and, and his land, he says, I'm gonna make you out of you. A blessing, and I will bless you as I never, as I have never blessed anybody else. But I will bless you, not that you may keep that blessing for yourself, but that you may share that blessing for others.

And as a matter of fact, I will bless families, all the families of the earth through you. The Bible says that we are Abraham's children Through Jesus Christ, maybe not, full Jewish plot, right? But through Jesus Christ, we are the spiritual Israel. God wants to do the same with us.

He wants to bring Hope and change and transformation in the gospel to our communities, and he will only do it. Through the church Again, I want to thank you for your support and for partnering with us. It's a real blessing and Has helped us a lot, this, fellowship time that we have had, for some of you that have come, to our place and have been with us, we have really enjoyed it. I know you guys are praying for us and How I know is because otherwise we couldn't do it without your prayers.

And what we do, it's because of partnering with you and other churches. That, love the Lord. Thank you for your time. Let me just, close up in prayer.

God, thank you for this opportunity that you're giving us to come together and To share together. Lord, thank you for your, your love and your Your blessing upon your church and may your word, Lord, be kept in the, in the deepest part of our hearts that we, that we may be reminded. Though we need to extend your kingdom on this earth. In Jesus' name, Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.